CHARLES SALE: Pellegrini suffers another sporting setback... after being told to join golf club waiting list

The last-minute weekend defeat by Chelsea isn’t the only sporting setback Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has suffered recently.

Keen golfer Pellegrini, who is said to check out local golf courses as one of his first moves on changing clubs, wants to join the exclusive nine-hole Hale club close to where he’s planning to set up home outside Manchester.

And the Chilean, who has enjoyed rounds as a guest at Hale, was expecting to receive membership straight away due to his high position in football, especially as the joining fee of £1,245 and annual subscription of £925 is hardly an issue.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Manuel Pellegrini: We are losing stupid points

Ifs and putts: For Pellegrini the failure to join a golf club could hurt almost as much as late defeat to Chelsea

Finding a fair way: Gareth Barry (left) is rumoured to be coming to the rescue of a golf club in trouble

But Pellegrini was told that he would have to join the waiting list, just as everybody else, before being considered for membership.

A City spokeswoman said Pellegrini wanted to show his wife Carmen, who also plays golf, the Hale set-up before committing to joining.

Meanwhile, another upmarket golf club Mobberley, whose owners are struggling to fund a £2.5m refurbishment that has received planning permission, would not comment on speculation inside the club that England star Gareth Barry may come to the rescue.

Paul Elliot has laid low during the FA’s recent racism issues as he contests a libel action brought by former Charlton star Richard Rufus. Rufus has issued High Court proceedings against Elliott for £150,000 aggravated damages after an n-word text exchange was made public.

Elliott had to resign his FA and Kick It Out posts; he was favourite to head the FA’s inclusion advisory group and is trying to get the Rufus action struck out before it reaches court. Elliott was just one of numerous investors in a failed investment fund run by Rufus that has hit problems here and in the US.

Lawyers acting for publishers Hodder & Stoughton are said to be looking at the way BBC Sports website lifted vast chunks of Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography word-for-word without authorisation ahead of the launch.

Ironically, Fergie’s own battles with the BBC are skirted over in the book. There are only brief mentions of the seven-year feud that followed the documentary about agent son Jason’s United transfer dealings or the legal complaint against Match of the Day magazine after an article by broadcaster Pat Murphy criticised Fergie’s treatment of journalists and referees.

Book mark: Alex Ferguson surprisingly didn't go into detail over his feud with the BBC in his autobiography

One theory is Ferguson doesn’t want to resurrect his BBC differences as they are linked through United governance issues to his war with Irish racing tycoons and former United shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus, the subject of a strict, confidential settlement.

New Fulham owner Shahid Khan moved quickly to remove Mohamed Fayed’s Michael Jackson statue from Craven Cottage. Yet Khan’s Jacksonville Jaguars NFL game at Wembley against the San Francisco 49ers had a Jacko impersonator providing some of the time-out entertainment.

Meanwhile, Wembley, who face long-term competition from Tottenham’s proposed new ground as the home of an NFL London franchise, will be looking for the tickets for the three American football matches at the national stadium in 2014 to sell out fast to show there’s an appetite for NFL.

Stories are still emerging of Paolo Di Canio’s bizarre managerial reign at Sunderland. One is how he ordered the team bus to leave for the Premier League match at Crystal Palace without summer signing El Hadji Ba on board.

The French midfielder had gone to collect a bag he’d left in his hotel room. A club spokeswoman said there was a designated leaving time but Ba received a lift and arrived at Selhurst Park before than Sunderland’s coach.

Questions were asked at the last FA Council meeting about the lack of a Premier League rep on Greg Dyke’s England commission.

A weak answer was given by Manchester United director David Gill. He should have taken the place he was offered as an FA vice-chairman but said PL clubs didn’t want him on it due to a conflict of interest.